Simplify

mini banana cream cookie pies

Ingredients

1 (16.5-ounce) roll Pillsbury refrigerated sugar cookies
1 (3.4-ounce) box banana cream pudding, prepared according to package directions and chilled
1 banana
whipped cream for topping

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 24-cup mini muffin tin. Divide sugar cookie dough into 24 even pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Place dough in prepared muffin tin cups.

Bake dough until golden brown and set, about 15-18 minutes. Remove from oven and use the bottom of a shot glass to make depressions in each cup, if necessary; cool 10 minutes. Using a butter knife, carefully remove cookie cups from muffin tin. Transfer cookie cups to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Spoon a generous teaspoon of chilled pudding into the center of each cookie cup. Slice banana into 24 slices and place on top of pudding. Top with a dollop of whipped cream.

do it

be you

you don't have to

Believe in your courage.

"Courage is like a muscle; it is strengthened by use.

"Courage isn't having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don't have strength."  

Napoleon Bonaparte

When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: 

You haven't.  

Thomas Edison

Hardships often prepare people for an extraordinary destiny.  

C.S. Lewis 

don't dig up in doubt what you planted in faith

shoes off this is sacred ground

You may never know what results come

from your action.

But if you do nothing,

there will be no result.  

Gandhi

"I will not let anyone walk through my 

mind with their dirty feet."  

Gandhi

Good question!

if I asked you to name all the things that you love, how long would it take for you to name yourself?

The Day Dawn Is Breaking

Look who's on your side of the field

who knew

hahaha

My kind of salad :D

chocolate comes from cocoa, which is a tree.
That makes it a plant - chocolate is salad.

YUM!!!

Do a 180

Truly

Look up

A deep breath of fresh oxygen

Feel Him carry you

Love comes before grief and love will be there after.

My memory loves you, it asks about you all the time.

Grief never ends… But it changes. It's a passage, not a place to stay. Grief is not a sign of weakness, nor a lack of faith… It is the price of love. 

author unknown

Christ mourns with those that mourn. Jesus wept

Loved ones watching over us

A feather from an Angel, Is one we rarely see.
But this one is quite different, And as special as can be.
This feather is a reminder, Of a special persons love . . .
Who is now your Guardian Angel, Watching & protecting from above.

You are beautiful!

Butterflies can't see their wings they can't see how beautiful they are, but every on else can. People are like that.

Mom's Day

"Few of us will reach our potential without the nurturing of both the mother who bore us and the mothers who bear with us." 

Sheri L. Dew

Have a Blessed Mother's Day

A Mother's love

You are chosen by God to be your children's mother. He does not make mistakes.

Love, ~Mama <3

Fwd: I love you

the things that transcend time

An experienced and now retired pilot and flight instructor learned valuable lessons about life while flying airplanes around the world. He learned that even though pilots control massive, powerful flying machines, there are some things they cannot control: they can't change the direction of the wind, stop the rain or the snow, or smooth out the turbulence jolting the airplane. 

And so when teaching new pilots how to land a plane in adverse conditions, he wisely told them, "Don't fight the controls. . . . Stay cool; don't overreact. Keep your eyes focused on the center line of the runway. If you deviate from your desired approach path, make prompt but measured corrections. Trust the potential of your airplane. 

Ride the turbulence out."

That's good advice for pilots and good advice for those of us on the ground as well, because turbulence doesn't happen only to airplanes; it also happens in our lives. Problems inevitably blow our way; sometimes things simply don't go as planned. We may feel shaken and blown about by storms of sorrow, stress, or sadness. So many of these storms are beyond our control.

But there are things we can control. At the very least, we can choose not to become preoccupied with our trials and troubles and instead keep our eyes on the center of the runway, the path that leads to our ultimate destination—our faith and hope, our loving relationships, the things that transcend time.

If the wind has blown us off course, it's not too late to make corrections. Sometimes what's needed is grit and perseverance; other times it's patience and perspective. Sometimes it might require extra concern for a loved one or maybe even the peace that comes of humble acceptance. Sometimes we just have to ride out the storm, hope and wait for better days, and 

do our best to weather whatever comes our way. 

Because that's the thing to remember about storms they pass. In the meantime, we can hold fast to those everlasting things. And then, when the wind that blew the clouds in blows them away again, we will find that faith, truth, and love have remained forever unshaken.

Lloyd D. Newell

Living, Laughing and Loving is Everything

Happy May Day

BE

Happy are those who, rather than reacting, choose to act.

One evening two young friends were walking together when they passed a neighbor standing in his front yard. One of the young men called out, "How are you, Bill? It's good to see you." But Bill ignored him—he didn't respond or even look up.

"Well, he's a grouch today, isn't he?" the other boy observed.

"Oh, he's always that way," his friend responded.

"Then why are you so friendly to him?"

"Why not?" he answered. 

"Why should I let him decide how I am going to act?"

Most of us would agree that it's impolite to shun or ignore someone. Even in a world that seems to be getting less and less civilized, the common consensus is that rude behavior, though widespread, is wrong. And yet, when someone is unkind to us, we might get the idea that our responsibility to be kind is somehow waived. So we may turn a cold shoulder toward someone who was mean or critical. Or we may give up on someone who keeps making mistakes. In other words, we let someone else determine how we are going to act. Instead of acting for ourselves, we react to the actions of others.

People who react are, in a very real sense, prisoners. They are controlled by the world around them. They allow the choices of others to determine whether they will be rude or gracious, crabby or cheerful, critical or supportive. As a result, 

they tend to be rather unhappy people.

On the other hand, people who act for themselves have decided beforehand what kind of person they want to be in every situation. Control of their attitudes and actions is in their own hearts and minds, where it belongs, and they are determined not to let someone else's poor choices change them. 

Of course, that determination gets tested often—it's not always easy to choose to act instead of react. But isn't that really the task of life—to learn how to take control of our own lives, to be kind and hopeful amid any difficulty? Happy are those who strive to replace hasty reactions with perspective, patience, and purposeful action. Happy are those who, rather than reacting, choose to act. 

Lloyd D. Newell

We can create it

Believe in yourself a little more.

Meet the future with faith

Have you ever wanted to trade places with someone? Maybe you know someone whose life appears to be so happy, so free from heartache, pain, and difficulty—especially when compared to yours. Perhaps he or she has better health, a more exciting job, or more possessions or prestige. Or maybe you've wished you could live in a different age of history, when times seemed simpler and stresses seemed more manageable. 

But if you were able to spend a day in another person's life, you may discover that you didn't know the whole story or hadn't looked very deeply. Every life, in every era, is touched by some degree of trouble and tribulation, shaded by some measure of sorrow and stress. That's the nature of life. 

The truth is, you are the sum total of your accumulated years, experiences, and relationships. Your background has helped to shape you into the person you've become. You live and breathe today with all the hard-won wisdom and life lessons embedded in your soul. You wouldn't be you without all that is in your heart and head. All of this makes you uniquely qualified to conquer the challenges you now face. To quote a classic piece of homespun wisdom, "If all of our troubles were hung on a line, you'd take yours and I'd take mine."

Perhaps on a birthday we might wish we were a few years younger, and perhaps on stressful days we might wish we could live in another time. But each of us is here at this time and in this place for a purpose, and one thing that can keep us from fulfilling that purpose is wishing we were somewhere else. 

This is our time, our season. We can't really go back to another time or trade places with someone else, but we can enjoy the present and meet the future with faith. The wisdom of the Psalmist echoes through the ages: "This is the day which the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" Psalm 118:24.

Lloyd D. Newell

love “beareth all things

Sometimes, we come to know what something is by understanding what it is not. We learn of integrity, for example, by confronting dishonesty. We learn of courage as we encounter fear. And we can learn of love as we consider its counterfeits. Love is not overbearing or controlling; love is not jealous or unkind; love is not neglectful, impatient, or fickle. 

As Shakespeare observed, "Love which alters when it alteration finds" is not love at all.

True love, selfless love, does not wither as beauty fades or life becomes difficult. If anything, its roots grow deeper and its branches spread farther with each shared experience. An elderly gentleman described how his love for his wife grew through their 55 years of marriage. He said, "I sat at dinner across the table from my wife the other evening. We have walked together through much of storm as well as sunshine. . . . As I looked at her across the table, I noted a few wrinkles in her face and hands. But are they less beautiful than before? No, in fact, they are more so. Those wrinkles have a beauty of their own, and inherent in their very presence is something that speaks reassuringly of strength and integrity and a love that runs more deeply and quietly than ever before."

This kind of love is the most enduring, the most influential, and the most needed power in the universe. Perhaps the only thing deeper than the need to receive such love is the need to give it. 

Of course, like anything of great value, love does not blossom overnight. While we sometimes talk of "love at first sight," love grows to its full flower gradually. It will take time, but love is undaunted, because, as the Apostle Paul taught, love "beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." When all is said and done, those who have patiently nurtured their love will enjoy the sweet fruits of their efforts, here and hereafter, and they will discover that love truly "never faileth."

Lloyd D. Newell 

Let grief do her sacred, invisible work

A Prayer for Those Who Are Grieving 

Emily P. Freeman

We recognize there are many among us who have only just crossed the invisible boundary marking their own before and after, who are looking at calendars today saying This time last week, things were still normal.

For those who have witnessed the kind of scenes that could haunt for a lifetime, we pray for a sanctified memory and a holy imagination. Release them from the haunting, we pray.

For those who begin to shake when the low light of evening sends shadows long across the yard, we pray for comfort.

For those whose sadness feels sharp like fear, soothe the jagged edges and bring relief.

For those who wait in the darkness groping for answers and finding only more questions, we pray for peace.

For those who have experienced loss but carry an odd-placed sense of responsibility, who can't shake the unexplained guilt that lingers in the air around them, we pray You might calm the chaos and awaken their heart to Your love.

One day in the future, some may begin to feel like they should be over it by now; they may grow tired of going through the whole thing again, or feel pressure to heal already; for these we pray for the courage to let grief do her sacred, invisible work.

We recognize the many layers of sadness present among us, both the kind that settles like a cloud over a nation after terrible loss and the kind that bursts unwelcome into our homes.

May Your presence fill up and overflow the gaping holes that 

are left in the wake of tragedy.

Live out Your Name among us, Emmanuel. Remind us you haven't left us alone.

I will not leave you comfortless: 

I will come to you. 

something extraordinary and meaningful

"take advantage of our incredible lives today and take time to make wonderful memories, I want to be rich with experiences and strong relationships....do what you love and love what you do" Jordan

click for video Pro-gression Camp 2014

click for video Pro-gression Camp 2015

click for video Skiing Sun Valley

"I enjoy being creative. Whether that is through my music, videos, art, or sports. I get a lot of satisfaction from making something significant out of something ordinary. The greatest feeling of fulfillment for me is when I can produce something that evokes emotion in others. With whatever I end up doing, my ultimate goal is to inspire others to get out and do something extraordinary and meaningful."  Jordan Niedrich

You will be so missed God be with you till we meet again

When you are born, you cry and the world rejoices.
When you die, you rejoice and the world cries.

The most painful tears are not the ones that fall from your eyes and cover your face. 
Its the ones that fall from your Heart and cover your soul.

Grief is the last act of love we have to give to those we loved.
Where there is deep grief, there is Great Love.

"Mourning is one of the deepest expressions of pure love. It is a natural response in complete accord with divine commandment: "Thou shalt live together in love, insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die."
Moreover, we can't fully appreciate joyful reunions later without tearful separations now.
The only way to take sorrow out of death is to take love out of life."

"When trials come we can get past them more quickly if we remember happiness in the past as readily as we count on the promise of happiness ahead." 

Jeffrey R. Holland 

"Life does not begin with birth, nor does it end with death . . . Returning from earth to life in our heavenly home requires passage through and not around the doors of death. We were born to die, and we die to live. As seedlings of God, we barely blossom on earth; 

we fully flower in heaven." 

Russell M. Nelson

In Loving Memory 

Jordan Niedrich April 16th, 2016